Florida woman’s 1973 murder solved after 50 years as cold case ends with death of suspect

NICEVILLE, Fla. - A Florida sheriff’s office says it has closed a 1973 murder case.

What we know:

Niceville college student Debra Espey was 19 years old when her father reported her missing on March 12, 1975, when she didn’t return home from school.

Deputies interviewed her friends and employees at the college immediately.

Her body was found in a shallow grave in the Rocky Bayou area of Niceville about a month later.

Courtesy: Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Senior Investigator Kelly Henderson said a custodian at the college told investigators he saw Espey leaving the school with an individual in a vehicle.

She stated that the man was a suspect and had remained the sole suspect since the 70s.

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The sheriff’s office continued to review the case and sent the evidence collected in 1973 for re-examination.

"We didn’t know about evidence and how to store it," Henderson explained. "It wouldn’t be stored necessarily how we would store it now, so a lot of the evidence had been degraded to the point we couldn’t even get the victim’s DNA to come back when we knew that piece of evidence did, in fact, have her DNA. So, we weren’t able to use the advanced technology we have now with DNA to be able to identify a suspect, you now, any of their DNA."

However, Henderson said that, considering the totality of everything, including the interviews conducted in 1973 and throughout the years, as well as the evidence at the scene, detectives were led to Dennis Murphy.

Courtesy: Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

"We have no reason to believe that anybody else is responsible, other than Dennis Murphy," Henderson said.

She said that they were in the process of filing the arrest warrant for Murphy when they learned he died in a traffic crash in Alabama in 2023.

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According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the case has been closed due to the "death of the offender."

What we don't know:

Henderson added that investigators were not able to figure out a motive, but Espey knew Murphy from school was seen leaving the area with Murphy.

"They were acquaintances," she said. "I would say they were friends, but not close friends. They kind of hung out with the same group of people. Speculation is that he thought she was attractive, but she didn’t, but we were never able to confirm that."

Initially, some investigators thought Murphy was responsible for another murder in the area in November 1973, but Henderson does not believe he did it.

What they're saying:

"The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has never stopped working on it," Henderson explained. "It’s been over 50 years, and we continued to work it to be able to provide whatever closure we can for the surviving family, and, unfortunately, a lot of her family passed away before we could close it."

"On behalf of the Espey family, we are very happy to finally have some closure on a case involving someone we loved so dearly," said Deborah Espey, the victim’s sister-in-law. "We thank the OCSO for the work they have done and wish to thank all the Investigators over the years and everyone who assisted. We stayed committed to updates on the case and are glad this public closure has been made."